Recoil
by kazalene
Summary: EC with slight RN. Calleigh struggles with her feelings for Eric as the team deal with a frustrating case; how can you prove murder if the vital piece of evidence is missing? This is my first fic.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fic. So I apologise for the bumpy prose and just general craziness.

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**Chapter One**

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Eric was late, _and_ stuck in traffic. He glanced across the strip and saw the sun was just beginning to rise above the Miami coastline and a deep red glow had set upon the horizon to greet it. '_Red sky at morning…shepherds warning' _thought Eric bitterly. His thought was suppressed however as the sun rose, settled and hovered for a moment above the water turning it a brilliant orange. His thoughts turned to Calleigh and a conversation they had had at a disastrous beach party of Ryan's...

_/EC/_

_Cooper and Ryan were hopelessly trying to light the BBQ while Calleigh was sitting hugging her knees to her chest a little way away as Eric approached and dropped his jacket around her shoulders._

_"You looked cold." He shrugged as she looked up at him questioningly._

_Her face broke into one of **those** smiles "Thank you Eric," and she motioned for him to sit with her. He obliged and the two sat in silence for a minute watching as the waves calmly lapped the shore. Next to him, Calleigh was focusing on an invisible point somewhere on the setting sun, a smile playing around her lips._

_"What are you thinking?" he asked her._

_"Huh?" she responded, coming out of her daze "Oh, it's just so beautiful, the sunset; it's one of my favourite things about Miami."_

_Eric was staring at her now and her eyes rose to meet his gaze. A lump rose to his throat as she smiled again._

_"What's yours?" she whispered._

_'Just say it' his heart screamed at him 'you are Calleigh, you are.' Another silence fell between them and Calleigh tugged his jacket closer around herself as the cool breeze washed over them. Eric took a deep breath; he was going to tell her. With his dark eyes still locked with her green ones he opened his mouth to speak._

_"RYAN!"_

_"Natalia I am so sorry!"_

_Calleigh and Eric tore their eyes from one another and turned to watch an alight Natalia, fling herself at the sand and roll around frantically while Ryan hopped up and down attempting to pat at her with a towel._

_"Are you okay?" he asked as her rolling subsided._

_"You set me on fire Ryan!"_

_"I know I – Talia wait! I'm sorry!" Ryan watched helplessly as she stormed away from him towards Valera, who was struggling to keep a straight face._

_"That was smooth Dude," Cooper grinned._

_"Shut up Dan," he growled._

_"Note to self: never stand near Ryan when fire is involved," Calleigh giggled as she stood up. "Come on" she said, reaching to pull Eric up and not missing the slight tingle where their hands touched "…let's uh do some damage control. You take Ryan I'll take Nat."_

_He watched her walk away before he turned one last time to the disappearing sun, and watched as it said a final farewell before being enveloped by the waves. How he wished they could have had that moment with the sunset that little bit longer, then maybe he would have told her…_

**_/EC/_**

The sound of a horn followed by some angry words pulled him out of the memory as he realised the traffic had begun to move long ago and he was still in the same position. A second beep told him he needed to move before he had to deal with a crime scene where _he_ was the victim. Sighing, he hit the gas and sped away from the now rapidly rising sun, leaving only a slight disturbance in the air from his acceleration.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all your reviews so far :D

I've actually completed this story but I don't want to post it all in one go; there has to be some suspense! My earlier chapters are short but I didn't plan them that way, it just made sense to me to pause there.

If you stick with it, then hopefully you'll understand why.

Oh, and as this is shorter than the first one, I've decided to post chapter 3 as well.

Hope you enjoy x

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**Chapter Two**

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Calleigh was in the break room sipping from her coffee, cubano of course. _'Eric's no good at hiding things'_ she thought with a smile, although sometimes that wasn't a good thing. She'd known what he'd wanted to say at that infamous beach party and part of her had wanted him to say it. Sensible Calleigh however wished she had never seen that longing in his eyes or allowed her own eyes to reflect the emotion. The sound of the break room door opening brought Calleigh's attention to Valera. She watched curiously as the DNA specialist began to frantically sniff the air.

"You found Eric's cubano!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

"Second cupboard on the right, behind whatever that muck is Copper calls lunch." Calleigh grinned.

"So what were you talking to Eric about on the beach the other night?" Valera asked as she opened the cupboard.

"Hmm?" Calleigh feigned innocence.

"You know, just before Ryan set fire to Natalia you – yuck!" She grimaced as she found Coopers lunch. "What the heck is that?!"

Laughing, Calleigh shrugged; glad for the change in topic. The last thing she wanted was people asking questions about her and Eric; it was awkward enough as it was and she hoped that if she could fool others, then she could fool herself and things would return to normal. As Valera busied herself with the coffee maker Calleigh sighed and set her mug on the table harder than she realised, emitting a squeak from Valera. "Sorry!" Calleigh grimaced. Who was she kidding? Even if she could fool Valera she knew there was no way she could fool herself. She had feelings for Eric and ever since he was shot their relationship had shifted; no longer innocent friendship but not quite a romance either. '_Had it ever been innocent friendship though?' _she wondered. She was suddenly aware of Valera's gaze.

"You O.K. Calleigh?" she asked suspiciously.

Before Calleigh could answer however, Ryan walked in with a huge grin plastered on his face and headed straight for the coffee. The two women exchanged looks.

"Ryan…" Valera began.

"What's going on?" Calleigh finished.

He looked between the two, both with a knowing smile playing about their lips. Valera's hands clasped around her mug while Calleigh had opted for the typical arms-folded-enquiring-pose. He sighed as he realised he wasn't going to dodge this one.

"Natalia is _finally_ talking to me again!"

"Really? What'd she say?" Calleigh asked, eyebrow raised.

"Ryan would you stop saying you're sorry and just go get me some coffee or something!?" he beamed.

Valera giggled into her mug while Calleigh bit her lip, stifling her own desire to laugh.

"Hey, it's something!" Ryan defended.

But Calleigh was no longer interested. The tall dark figure that had emerged from the elevator suddenly captured her attention. _'He's late,' _she thought. _'Was he okay?'_ Calleigh vaguely heard Valera bait Ryan about having 'a cute school boy crush' when Eric turned and met her eyes through the glass. '_Damn it! Who designed this lab?!' _her thoughts raced as he raised a hand and gave her a small wave. She returned the gesture with a nod, her eyes never leaving his as he walked towards her and entered the room.


	3. Chapter 3

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**Chapter Three**

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Eric tore his gaze from Calleigh as soon as he registered the rich smell that was filling the break room. He looked from Ryan to the coffee maker, to the jar of _his_ coffee, back to Ryan again and then finally at the mug in Ryan's hands.

"Is that my cubano?" he enquired, eyebrows raised.

Ryan took that as the cue to leave. "Well if you excuse me ladies, Eric…I have some coffee to deliver" and with that he left the room, quickly.

"Hey Ryan?" Valera followed him.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe this time you'll get a smile."

"Bite me."

Calleigh's laugh brought Eric back to her eyes and the way they lit up just that little bit more whenever she did that.

"Did I miss something?" he smiled.

"Natalia's speaking to Ryan again." she grinned back at him. "So is everything okay? You're running kinda late."

Her tone was light but her eyes were full of concern. Eric gave her a warm smile and leant back against the counter. "Eric?"

"Yeah, I'm alright traffic was real bad along the strip."

Her concern turned to a frown as she moved to the sink to place her mug down. "You took the strip? But that's out of your way."

He shifted his body slightly, turning to face her, before locking eyes with her for what felt like the millionth time that morning.

"I uh," he paused, drawing his arms across his chest. "I wanted to see the sunrise. It's just as beautiful as the sunset."

He heard Calleigh take in a sharp breath and he knew she'd got his implication.

"Oh."

Quickly, she dropped her eyes away from him and busied herself with some papers. Eric studied her for a moment loving the way her hair fell over her shoulders and how despite the strong smell of his cubano he could still smell her perfume. _'He loved that smell.'_ The hint of lemon mixed with something he could only describe as Calleigh. She had her back to him now and he couldn't help admiring her curves. Something about seeing the sunrise had given him a newfound sense of confidence; he'd realised she was the scared one and he refused to be scared anymore. Silently he began to move towards her.

Calleigh knew he was staring but she didn't trust herself to speak. She could feel him move behind her, knew that she wanted him to touch her despite what the sensible part of her brain was screaming. She closed her eyes and sighed as she felt him close the gap between them...

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Gosh, I love suspense :D


	4. Chapter 4

Here are the next two chapters, enjoy!

And thank you for all the reviews - keep 'em coming :D

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**Chapter Four**

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His hands slid around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he breathed into her hair sending a shiver through her body. She could feel his warmth and allowed herself to relax into him, not quite sure what she was doing but doing it because it felt _good_. Her eyes were still closed knowing that if she opened them her senses would return and Sensible Calleigh would stop the moment. Instead she sighed deeply, feeling him tighten his embrace, before his hands moved up slightly to rest on her hips.

"Cal?" he whispered into her ear, sending another shiver through her.

"Mmm?" she breathed.

"I – "

"JESUS RYAN!"

They sprung apart at the scene unfolding in the hallway. Eric turned to look back at Calleigh, frowned when he saw she wasn't there. Through the glass, he watched her head for a near hysterical Natalia and a crest fallen Ryan. Sighing, he followed her out.

"It's not enough that you set fire to me! No. You then have to go and throw _HOT_ coffee all over me!"

"Talia I – "

"Ryan if you tell me you're sorry one more time, I am going to shove that mug somewhere real painful!" She pointed to the now empty mug in his hand.

"Nat you okay?" Calleigh stifled her amusement, as she approached the rowing couple.

"No not really, Ryan here just threw coffee over me. HOT coffee." She grabbed the hem of her top and pulled at it a little, attempting to draw the hot, sticky material away from her skin.

Eric glanced at Ryan. He was staring at the floor looking so ashamed that Eric found he actually felt sorry for him. Running his hand through his hair, he attempted to defend his hopeless colleague.

"Come on Natalia, I'm sure he didn't mean it. It was an accident, that's all." The look in her eyes told him he'd said the wrong thing.

"THAT'S ALL?" she spat, stepping towards him. "I'D LIKE – "

"Nat how about you go get cleaned up and I'll have a word with Ryan. Eric was just trying to help okay?" Calleigh's soothing voice cut in. _He loved that voice, that accent._

Natalia took a breath, stepped back and nodded. She headed for the ladies stopping only as she passed Ryan.

"You, plus hot things, equals stay away from me!"

Ryan groaned and looked at Calleigh who was struggling to hide her amusement. He glanced at Eric hoping to see sympathy but instead the Cuban gave him a shrug and turned to his right.

"Um, Cal can we talk?"

She refused to meet his gaze, scared of what had just happened. No, what she had just _allowed_ to happen! '_What if someone had seen?! The entire lab is like one giant window!'_ She was glad for the interruption, even if it had been somewhat painful for Natalia…although she couldn't shake the voice that asked '_what was he going to say…I - what?'_ But she knew.

"Cal?" Eric's voice brought her back.

"Can it wait Eric? I need to have a word with Ryan." Still she avoided his eyes.

Eric ran his hands through his hair and sighed. Sensible Calleigh was back. He glanced at Ryan and felt a surge of annoyance '_why did he have to be such an idiot?!'_ He'd nearly told Calleigh how he felt, that he loved her. He'd had her in his arms and _she'd let him_ hold her. If he didn't get that moment back soon she'd push him away and rebuild her walls. But one look at Ryan's face dispelled Eric's annoyance and pity replaced it. Sighing again, Eric lifted his hands to his head and walked away _feeling _Calleigh release that breath she'd been holding.


	5. Chapter 5

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**Chapter Five**

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Calleigh watched him go, silently breathing '_thank you_.' She looked at Ryan, forced a smile and said, "Walk with me?"

Ryan nodded and grunted what she thought was an "O.K." and fell into step beside her.

"Don't worry Ryan she'll calm down…eventually," she offered.

"Come on Calleigh you know damn well that had it been you I'd set fire to and spilt coffee over, you'd have shot me by now!"

She laughed at that. "Ryan you'd be in intensive care right now."

"Not helping."

"Well look on the brightside she hasn't shot you, injured you or as far as I'm aware of, cursed you."

Ryan stopped dead at the word 'cursed'. _Oh God_; he hadn't thought of that. That Santería business had freaked him out so much so that he'd actually gone out of his way to find curse wards to hang around his house that night. His eyes met Calleigh's and told him she knew what he was thinking. With a smile playing about her lips she touched Ryan's arm gently.

"I'm kidding Ryan. I doubt Nat knows how to curse someone…she's not the vengeful type."

She watched him consider this for a moment; watched him relax, and they began to walk again falling into a comfortable silence. Calliegh's mind wandered back to Eric. Her father, Elliot, Jake and particularly Hagan – even now it took every fibre of her being not to wince at the memory - had left her with a defence mechanism that could shut out anyone _except Eric._ He could read her, knew what she was thinking, knew how to get past her walls and it scared her more than she'd like to admit; she couldn't hide from him. If she took that step with Eric it wasn't going to be casual it was going to be intense and the thought was terrifying; she could really love Eric…'_perhaps I already do.'_

Ryan was also deep in thought but not about Natalia. Suddenly, another thought crept into his mind as he realised Calleigh had walked him to ballistics.

"Um Cal?"

"Yeah?"

"You haven't brought me here to silence me have you?"

"What?"

"You know shoot me, kill me – " Ryan made a sign across his neck.

"Ryan what are you talking about?!"

"The reason I spilt the coffee in the first place…I wasn't looking where I was going…uh…"

He looked down at his hands and missed the flash of realisation followed by panic that exploded on Calleigh's face. '_Shit_.'

"Where were you looking then Ryan?" she asked in what she hoped was a calm voice but had the feeling it was more of a croak.

"At uh, you and Eric in the break room."

Calleigh brought her hands to her face. '_Shit again.'_

"I mean there I was heading for Talia and I catch sight of you two getting rather uh, comfortable with one another…the lab is made of glass – "

"Yes, thank you Ryan." Calleigh's voice was tight.

Why did she feel so guilty? '_It wasn't like they'd made out or anything…'_ But then they hadn't needed too. There had been so much feeling in his touch they way it had burned her skin through her clothes and left her powerless to stop him, wanting him to stay there forever. She quickly pulled herself away from the thought and sighed tucking a strand of blonde behind her ear.

Sensing her discomfort, Ryan moved towards the door, "I should go."

Calleigh looked up suddenly. "Uh Ryan could you not – "

"Don't worry Calleigh I've already pissed off one woman today I'm not about to piss off the one that WILL shoot me. My lips are sealed." He smiled at her and she gave a half smile back before he turned to the door once more. He paused before he moved through it and looked back over his shoulder.

"Uh Cal?"

"Yeah?"

"If it helps…I'd give anything for Talia to look at me like Eric looks at you."

Her eyes met his once more and her smile grew, "That's sweet Ryan."

He grinned back at her, a wicked thought creeping in, "Yeah, even if it does look like he's secretly violating you sometimes – "

He left quickly when he heard her cock her gun.

Before she had time to digest her conversation with Ryan properly, her cell came to life.

"Duquesne?" She answered.

Calleigh listened patiently as dispatch gave her an address and informed her about a rather nasty homicide. Sighing she collected her kit and headed for the crime scene. '_And so it begins…'_

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I know I took a little time to get to this, but I just wanted to set up the Eric/Calleigh.

The chapters get longer from this point so keep a look out for them. I'll update tomorrow.

PS. I love reviews... :D


	6. Chapter 6

As promised, here are the next two chapters.

Enjoy!

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**Chapter Six**

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Eric parked his hummer and glanced at the clock, 8.21 AM. He could see Calleigh's hummer parked neatly in front of his. _'Of course she was already here,'_ he smiled. His smile quickly turned to a frown however as his brain took him to this mornings earlier event.

_The feel of her back pressed against his chest, the way she'd allowed his hands to explore her waist. The shiver he felt move through her body when he whispered her name before she'd pulled away from him and shut him out._ _He could still smell her perfume; he could always smell it._

A sharp tap on his window made him snap out of it. Ryan was looking at him with curious eyes as Eric pushed the window button.

"You just gonna sit there all day or are you actually going to help us process this crime scene?" Ryan teased through the now open window.

Sighing, Eric grabbed his kit and exited the hummer. Alexx was examining the body as he approached. Calleigh was talking to a guy a little way away. He was in his mid-thirties from what Eric could tell and was wearing an expensive suit, his handsome face marred by arrogant eyes and a bored expression.

"That's the husband." Ryan informed him.

"Let me guess, Lawyer?" Eric asked.

Ryan laughed and nodded, "District Attorney Brian Galloway." His phone went as Eric headed for Alexx. Horatio was knelt beside her.

"Alexx… cause of death?" Horatio enquired.

"Poor baby was shot, bullet pierced her temporal lobe." Alexx pointed to the gunshot wound just above the victims left ear. She moved her hands to the woman's wrists. "Bruising to the epidermis suggests a struggle."

"Time of death?"

"About 2 or 3 hours ago. She never got to see the sunrise."

"Alright thank you Alexx. Let me know if you find anything else."

"You got it Horatio."

Eric surveyed the victim. Despite all his experience, he still found it hard to look at murder victims. One case in particular haunted him; _'a whole family slaughtered, save from a blood soaked toddler and the father: the murderer.'_ Sometimes he could still smell the iron and decay that had perforated the house. He let his gaze linger long enough to see that the body was of a young, pretty brunette, her lips a little blue in the corners.

"Eric… vic's name is Jessica Galloway. After you're done here, run a background check, see what you can find." Horatio's voice asked. "Mr Wolfe?" his boss added as Ryan approached.

"Apparently Galloway's got a ninety-seven percent conviction record. Guy's good."

Eric surveyed the DA once more. He didn't look too upset about his wife's death, he noted.

Horatio noticed this too. "Well that," Horatio paused as he put his sunglasses on. "That doesn't make him one of the good guys."

Eric and Ryan exchanged a look. The CSI's had a running joke about Horatio's one-liners. They always imagined some timeless rock song playing as their lieutenant walked away. Eric agreed with Speed's suggestion of 'Won't get Fooled again' _'It's his theme song man.' _He smiled wistfully at the memory; there were days when he missed Speed desperately. Calleigh had confided Free's 'All Right Now' was what played in her mind. As for Ryan and Natalia he'd never asked them, besides he doubted Talia was into Rock and wasn't even sure Ryan _knew_ what Rock was. Glancing to the side he saw Ryan was deep in thought, his head bopping ever so slightly while his leg twitched in time with his head; Eric dreaded to think what song he was thinking of. Chuckling to himself, he set his kit down and began to swab for evidence.

"Mr. Wolfe?" Horatio called.

"Yeah H?" Ryan came out of his trance.

"Go with Alexx and see what the autopsy has to say."

"Uh huh." Ryan headed for Alexx's van, Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' still buzzing in his brain.


	7. Chapter 7

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**Chapter Seven**

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Calleigh was watching DA Galloway intently. The man was too cocky.

"Mr. Galloway could you think of anyone who would want to do this?"

Galloway sighed, looked down at his watch and back up to Calleigh. He brought his left hand to the back of his neck and scratched it – something she took to be a nervous gesture.

"Ms. Duquesne I am a DA. A DA with a ninety-seven percent conviction record – "

"Mr. Galloway my question wasn't about your credentials," Calleigh cut in firmly.

He chuckled softly. "No but it means that there are a lot of guys behind bars who want to hurt me. I believe that's what you CSI's call motive?" he added smugly before checking his watch again.

"You know you don't seem too upset about your wife's murder. Surely you're intelligent enough to know that doesn't look good especially when so far you're our only suspect?" Calleigh replied coolly.

His arrogant eyes locked with hers and she saw only coldness, "A suspect? Ms. Duquesne I hardly think you have grounds to call me a suspect. I called the murder in, you have no _evidence_." he emphasised the word.

She met his tone and with a tight smile replied, "Give me time."

He was amused now and looked past her to see a man standing a little way behind her, hands on hips, sunglasses on, his head tilted to the side. He guessed the man as Lieutenant Caine.

"You called the Murder in at 0800 hours Mr. Galloway?" Horatio asked, removing his glasses.

"Sounds about right."

"You didn't think to call it in sooner? Time of death says 5, 6 AM." he pushed.

"I called it in as soon as I found her."

"You mean you just got home?" Calleigh was interested now.

Galloway sighed. "Jessica and I got into a fight last night. We've been having a few… problems. I spent the night in a hotel."

"Would you mind telling us what the fight was about?"

"It's personal. Unless you have some new _evidence that_ _implicates me,_ you don't need to know."

"Okay, Mr. Galloway I'm going to need the name of that Hotel," Horatio stated more than asked.

"The Mandarin Oriental." He looked at his watch once more, "If you don't mind I have a meeting to get to." The DA nodded at the two CSI's and headed for his car.

"Mr. Galloway?" Horatio called, putting his sunglasses back on. He waited for the DA to face him, "Don't go far."

Galloway simply smiled and shook his head. '_The guy was like an Armani advert for shades.'_

Horatio felt Calleigh shift slightly as they watched the DA walk away. She was looking behind her at the crime scene, her eyes resting on Eric.

"Ma'am?"

Calleigh forced the song out of her mind, knowing that Eric would have got the joke. She turned her attention back to Horatio.

"He definitely did it," she said bitterly.

Horatio smiled and looked down. Calleigh was one of the most perceptive people he knew. She had a near perfect record, was almost always right and he certainly didn't doubt her now. Looking back up at his number two he saw her gaze had drifted back to Eric. He frowned slightly. Since the shooting he'd noticed Calleigh and Eric had become closer than ever but he knew Calleigh was too professional to let anything happen between them. But then she was different around Eric…

"Hey H, I'm gonna go see if I can find some _evidence_." She brought him out of his thoughts and he laughed at her sarcastic tone: Galloway had pissed her off.

"Calleigh…" he began. "We're going to need some." And with that he headed for his hummer.

She chuckled softly as the music kicked in once more. Turning her focus to back to work, she surveyed the scene. She was looking at the back of an obviously expensive house. The deep blue water in the pool was calmly lapping with the morning breeze, oblivious to the angry red substance just feet away, where Jessica's body had been. Eric was standing by the patio doors - glass of course - dusting for prints. He was studying the handle intently and she couldn't help watching him, loving the way his hands delicately moved the brush across the door, a look of concentration etched on his face. She frowned however when she realised she was going to have to walk past him, through the door to get into the house. Calleigh contemplated walking around the house to the front entrance but then scolded herself for being so ridiculous. '_She hated that he could do this to her.'_ With a deep breath, she headed for Eric with the intention of finding a spot as far away from him as possible once she was past him. She was not about to deal with whatever was going on there now, not at a crime scene.

He felt her walk towards him, thought about blocking her path for a moment but then remembered she probably had her gun on her. Instead he settled for moving back enough so that she had to brush past him to move through the door. He inhaled her scent as he felt her touch and tried to catch her eye. She moved quickly though, merely muttered a quiet "Hey," before disappearing into the house. He sighed his frustration and went back to dusting for prints. He didn't know how long he was going to be able to survive on small moments like this.

Calleigh stopped once she had gotten into the lounge. Her right hip was still burning from where she'd brushed his back but she ignored it. Looking around while she photographed, she admired the décor. High bookshelves framed one wall while two leather sofas sat casually together. She moved to the coffee table, a rich mahogany oval, and surveyed the newspaper that lay there. Suddenly she noticed a drop of blood on the top left corner of the page. She took out a cotton bud and swabbed the dried substance. Once she was satisfied she took out the luminal from her kit and gently added a couple of drops. She smiled when she saw the colour; '_pink always was her favourite._' She then took a few more swabs for Valera, picked up the newspaper and moved onto the next room.

_**/EC/**_

Eric eyed the several fingerprints he'd found. From what he could tell there were three sets. After photographing the prints he grabbed the ASM from his kit and began to lift them.

"What's that?" A voice asked behind him.

Eric turned to see a junior officer standing there. He smiled. Cops were always interested in what the CSI's did. For some reason their job looked glamorous: Eric had to laugh at the irony of it. Chuckling lightly, he answered;

"Adhesive Specimen Mount. It lifts powdery substances for chemical and microscope analysis in the lab."

"Oh."

Eric smiled again as he picked up his kit and moved over to the pool of blood. He took a photograph, not quite remembering if he had already. He frowned as he realised this. He knew he was lucky to be alive but it didn't help his frustration when he suffered memory loss or severe headaches. The officer interrupted his thoughts.

"You O.K?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine," Eric replied as he bent down and took a swab of the blood. He knew it was the victim's blood but as a CSI he had to account for everything. He'd seen too many bizarre things in his career. It also didn't hurt to have as much evidence as possible especially when lawyers were so good at twisting the truth. He could just imagine one now. '_CSI Delko, how can you be sure that this is the victim's blood? It could be anyone's.'_ He rolled his eyes at the audacity as he placed the swabs into evidence bags. Standing up, he turned as he heard her heels walking towards him.

Her face looked puzzled when she finally lifted her eyes to him. He stared back at her for a moment, not wanting to speak in case she broke eye contact. Finally she ended the silence.

"Eric have you found a gun? Or anything that remotely looks like one?" she rushed in exasperation, her eyes a little wild.

"No, why?"

"Because I can't find one. Anywhere. There's a gun drawer with no fingerprints and no gun," she frowned.

"So no murder weapon then," he stated more than anything.

Calleigh sighed irritably and shifted her weight onto her right leg. He sensed her annoyance and tried to suppress his smile as he watched the pout form on her lips. _'She was so sexy when she did that.'_ He cleared his throat realising he was getting into dangerous territory.

"Well Alexx'll have your bullet. Maybe that will help something turn up?" he offered.

She stared at him for a moment, her pout slowly turning into a smile and eventually into her trademark grin.

"You nearly done here?" Calleigh asked.

"Yeah, I've just got to check in with Tripp. He's asking the neighbours some questions." he smiled back at her.

"Alrighty," she drawled. "I'll see you back at the lab. I'll be in ballistics if you need me." Then raising a hand in a small wave she headed for her hummer.

Eric watched her go, loving the way her hair swayed in time with her hips and admiring how she managed to keep her balance in those heels. _'I always need you,' _he thought.

_**/EC/**_

He found Tripp round the front of the house talking to the young officer he'd exchanged words with a few minutes earlier.

"Hey Eric. Guess what? Neighbours saw nothing, heard nothing."

Eric sighed. "They have any idea who could of done this?"

"Nope. They were all full of praise for Mr. Galloway though, particularly Miss. Johnson two doors down." Frank gestured to the right of the house and raised his eyebrows.

Eric smiled knowingly. "You think there was something going on?"

"Who am I to say?" Tripp raised his hands and smiled.

"Alright, anything else?"

"Yeah. House across the street belongs to a Mr. Harrison he wasn't home though. Miss. Johnson mentioned he's been spending quite a lot of time with the Galloway's, especially Mrs. Galloway."

Eric sighed and shook his head. "So we're looking at two possible affairs and a murder. Thanks Tripp I'll catch you later. Can you try and get hold of Mr. Harrison for me?"

"Will do."

Eric then did a final walk around the perimeter, checking for anything he might have missed, photographing as he did so. Once he was back in his hummer he called Calleigh about the conversation he'd just had with Tripp; she had just arrived back at the lab.

"The DA mentioned he'd had a fight with his wife last night. Could have something to do with Tripp's info?" she suggested.

"Yeah. Christ how many 'crimes of passion' have we seen?"

She was silent for a moment.

"Too many" she said quietly. _'Not enough,'_ her heart _felt_.

The silenced resumed.

"Cal - " he began.

"Hey Eric I gotta go, Alexx just paged me about the bullet. I'll see you later."

He heard a click and she was gone. Growling in frustration he hit his palm against the steering wheel. _'Was she ever going to talk to him?'_ With a sigh he made a right, ignoring the throbbing pain in his hand, as well as his head, and headed for the lab.

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I hope you liked it! Updates will be up tomorrow :D


	8. Chapter 8

Next two chapters up! Thank's to all of you who have been reviewing the story so far, I really do appreciate it :D

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

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"Hey Alexx! You got my bullet?" Calleigh grinned, meeting her in the hallway.

"Here you go honey," Alexx handed her the small pellet.

Calleigh held it up, studying it intently. "Look's like a 45…" she said to no one in particular. Alexx smiled, _'they didn't call her bulletgirl for nothing.'_

"Did you get anything else from the autopsy?" Calleigh asked.

"Couldn't lift any prints from her wrists. The bruising was smooth, so no significant marks you can trace. She'd had intercourse recently. But whoever it was with used a condom, couldn't get any trace."

"Any good news Alexx?"

"Confirmed time of death was around 6.15 AM?" she offered.

Calleigh sighed.

"Ryan's got the vic's prints and Valera's checking her DNA for anything of interest. Maybe something will turn up there?"

"Alright thanks Alexx, I was headed for DNA anyway."

"No problem honey, I'll let you know if I find anything else."

_**/EC/**_

Horatio was with Valera when Calleigh walked in.

"Ma'am?" he asked.

"I found some blood in the house," Calleigh informed him as she handed her swabs to Valera.

A loud beep entered the room as the printer kicked into life. Valera grabbed the paper and surveyed it for a couple of seconds.

"Nothing," she breathed. "Jessica wasn't pregnant, wasn't on any substance and as far as I can tell was perfectly healthy."

Horatio sighed. "Alright let's see what Calleigh's evidence tells us. Keep me posted." He nodded to Calleigh before leaving the room.

She watched Valera work, cutting a section off each swab and adding it to solution in a test tube. Unconsciously she drummed her fingers.

"I can't go any faster Cal!"

"Valera I'm sorry. It's just we really need something here!"

The DNA specialist sensed her frustration, gave her a smile and turned to the centrifuge. While they waited for the results she took the opportunity to do some grilling.

"Where's Eric?" she kept her tone casual.

Calleigh eyed her suspiciously, not quite sure where Valera was going but knowing that she wouldn't like it.

"He's on his way back from the crime scene, why?"

"Oh no reason. Just he's usually never very far from you…just preparing myself for more DNA." She shrugged hoping Calleigh would buy her feigned innocence.

A sharp intake of breath told Valera that there was definitely something going on. Before she could push it further however, a beep interrupted them as the printer rolled off the results.

"Blood is XY."

"So it's male." A grin spread across Calleigh's face, the conversation with Valera forgotten; "Can you run it through CODIS?"

"Sure," Valera struggled to hide the disappointment at the interruption.

Calleigh gazed at the moving images on the screen. _'He'd be in here, he was a DA. A DNA sample was compulsory.'_ Finally the images stopped moving and settled on one: a thirty-five-year-old male with intense arrogant eyes. _'Yes!'_ She left Valera in a happy mood.

"Luietenent Caine?" he answered.

"Hey handsome, I've got something. Meet me down by interrogation. Mr. Galloway's about to drop in."

**/EC/**

Eric was surprised to find Ryan and Natalia in the same room together, let alone talking. Granted there was a table in between them, but it had to be a positive step. He entered the room adding his photos to the ones Calleigh had taken. Ryan and Natalia were examining them.

"See anything interesting?" he questioned.

"Besides some seriously nice digs? No not really." Natalia answered.

"Any news on the murder weapon yet?" Ryan rubbed his eyes.

"No but Calleigh's got the bullet, haven't had a chance to check in with her yet," Eric replied, wincing at the slight edge in his voice. "Anyway I'm gonna go run these prints, see if I can get a hit off AFIS," He held his evidence bags up. "Catch you later."

He made his way to trace, passing the elevator as DA Galloway stepped out of it. _'Calleigh's got something,'_ he smiled.

**/EC/**

"Calleigh?" Horatio asked as he approached her. "What have you got?"

"The blood I found matched Galloway."

He glanced at the photo's she had in her hand, his eyes focusing on the one of a front page of a newspaper, "What's that?"

"This," she smiled, "Tells us that Mr Galloway was in his house this morning, bleeding. Perhaps from a _struggle_." She emphasised the word pointing to both a photo of the victims bruising and the date of the newspaper; it was today's.

"You got some evidence," he grinned back at her.

"This better be good lieutenant," The DA's voice cut in.

"Ah Mr. Galloway, please, take a seat." Horatio gestured to the room and entered it.

Galloway looked at Calleigh, a smile playing at her lips as she raised her eyebrows and nodded for him to follow Horatio.

Once they were all seated, Calleigh began.

"Mr. Galloway could you please tell us what time you arrived at your house this morning?"

"About ten minutes before I called Jessica's murder in."

"So around 7.50 then?"

"Sounds about right," He watched as Calleigh placed two photographs in front of him. "Did you cut yourself this morning, at the hotel? In your car?"

"No. What is this?"

"Well this…" Calleigh pointed to a photo of a newspaper with a small blood stain in the corner, "…Is your blood and this…" She pointed to the photo of the front page, "…Proves that you were there this morning, bleeding over today's newspaper – "

"Ms. Duquesne." Galloway warned.

"Brian, Brian here's what I think," Horatio cut in. "You arrived home around 6 AM, got into another fight with your wife, struggled with her, cut yourself in the fight and then shot her. You waited a couple of hours before calling it in to clean up and make yourself look innocent."

Galloway watched Horatio intently; a small smile crept upon his face.

"An interesting theory Lieutenant. Prove it."

"Calleigh?" Horatio asked.

Calleigh rose and reached for her kit. "Hold out your hands," she commanded.

Galloway did as he was told, never taking his eyes of Calleigh. She was checking for GSR but he knew she wouldn't find any. The frown that leapt across her face confirmed this.

"Well?" he asked.

"No GSR," Calleigh breathed. _'What?!'_

"In that case…" The DA got up to leave.

"Sit down Mr. Galloway. We aren't finished," Horatio stopped him. "You still haven't explained your blood."

"I caught my hand in the door," He shrugged and held up his left hand, separating his thumb from his index finger, displaying a rather nasty bruise surrounding a small, angry cut. "Pinched it."

Calleigh was staring at it intently. She knew that certain guns could pinch the skin like that as they recoiled; she'd worked on a similar case before.They needed to find that murder weapon; even if the bullet matched to a gun of that type she still couldn't tie Galloway to the murder without the primary evidence.

"What is your relationship with Miss. Johnson?" she asked, trying a new direction; detecting a slight flicker in his eyes before he composed himself again.

"She's a friend."

"What was your wife's relationship with Mr. Harrison?"

"He was sleeping with her." He kept his eyes on Calleigh, not missing a beat as he stated his sentence.

"It didn't bother you?"

He laughed cruelly. "Of course it bothered me!" He tensed slightly as he realised his slip.

"You've just given us motive Mr. Galloway. I'd like your clothes please," Calleigh smiled.

"Ms. Duquesne you won't find any GSR," he sighed.

"Well I'd still like to check, now if you don't mind, you can go with this officer here to change and give the clothes to him." She nodded to the man who had just entered the room. Galloway glared at her as she watched him leave.

"Nice save," Horatio told her.

"Still need that murder weapon though," she frowned as she left for ballistics to test her bullet.

**/EC/**

Eric found her where she said she'd be: in ballistics. He took a moment to watch her as she expertly lined up her shot and fired, her blonde hair swaying a little as the gun recoiled. He studied her face, loving the look of concentration it bore. _'She looked so cute,' _he smiled. Not that he would ever tell her of course, not unless he wanted a bullet in his body_. 'Been there, done that,' _he thought bitterly, wincing slightly at the sharp pain he felt in head.

She was aware of his presence, had been the minute he'd opened the door. She'd chosen to ignore it however and concentrated on her current task, looking down at her right hand. '_Nope, nothing,' _she sighed.

"What's up?" Eric asked, sensing her frustration.

Calleigh looked up, studying him and he saw concern in her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

He frowned. "Yeah. Why?"

"Eric?" her voice was soothing but her eyes were serious.

"My head hurts a little, just one of the side affects." He raised his hand to his head for a moment before letting it drop back down, "Cal, I'm O.K. It will pass."

She was still watching him, concern more evident than ever.

"Maybe you should – "

"Calleigh I'm fine," he cut in a little too sharply and saw her wince slightly at the tone. Slowly he moved towards her and gently touched her arm. "I'm sorry," he breathed. "I just hate being like this."

She nodded and moved her eyes from his to where his hand was resting. His touch grew hot and she quickly moved back towards the computer, placing the bullet Alexx had given her into the sensor. She avoided his eyes the entire time, willing the coldness in her arm from where she'd broken from his grasp to go away. Calleigh pressed 'search' on the screen and waited for the images to stop moving. Eric shifted from his position and moved to stand next to her, his arms tightly drawn across his chest and she couldn't help but notice his biceps.

"I uh, ran the prints I collected through AFIS," he attempted, trying to break the discomfort.

"What did you get?" She still wouldn't look at him.

"Three sets of prints. One belonged to our vic, another to Mr. Galloway and the third to a Mr. Harrison."

"Galloway confirmed Harrison was sleeping with his wife. Perhaps he paid her a visit this morning?" she theorised.

"Yeah, Tripp's trying to locate Harrison now."

Their silence resumed until a beep brought them out of it. Calleigh sighed, looking at the screen. There was no denying it, the screen read exactly the same information it had the last time she'd checked; the bullet came from a Colt 45. Automatic.

"You don't seem too happy," Eric noted.

"Galloway has, or _had _a registered Colt 45. The bullet Alexx gave me matches this gun but I just tested the one I have in the vault and look!" She held her right hand up. "No blood!"

He caught her hand and examined it, his fingers drawing small circles on her palm as he frowned.

"Um Cal, isn't that a good thing?"

"Galloway cut his hand between his thumb and his index finger," she replied, moving away from him.

Eric stared back at her. "Where a gun recoil would hit?" he got her meaning.

She nodded, rubbing her hand in absence of his. "A Colt. 45. has a heavy slide and bolt that slams back and forth with each shot, in addition to its strong recoil. It makes it awkward to use. I was hoping that if the murder weapon turns up, I might be able to pull Galloway's DNA from it. But no matter how I hold it, I get no blood."

"But Cal, you're an expert. Plus you have smaller hands."

She cocked her head to one side as she considered this, "Okay, you try." Calleigh handed him the gun, a grin appearing on her face.

"Alright. But If I cut myself - "

"I'll kiss it better," she joked, locking her eyes with his for a moment before dropping them as she realized what she'd just said. _'When did it get like this?'_ She and Eric used to flirt like this all the time but now it was so…_awkward._

Eric felt it too and attempted to lighten the moment once more, "Bet I can match your shot." He pointed to where the bullet she'd fired earlier rested snugly in the centre of the target, smiling as she laughed.

"I dare you to try," Calleigh grinned.

With a deep breath Eric took aim and fired, wincing at the heavy recoil and hearing a sharp **snap** as the bolt slid back. Before he could look down at his hand however, Calleigh took it in hers and traced the smooth, unbroken skin between his thumb and his index finger. She was standing close to him now, '_too close. No, not close enough.'_ He closed his eyes, trying to compose himself.

Calleigh sighed her frustration and allowed herself to look up at him. She smiled softly at his face. His eyes were closed, his brow furrowed and his lips were set into a deep line of concentration. '_God she wanted to touch those lips.'_ As if he sensed her thought, he opened his eyes and gazed back at her. They stood like that for a moment, Calleigh's fingers still tracing Eric's hand, eyes still locked.

This time she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Eric's left hand came up to take the hand that was tracing his right, his hand now free to take her other one and he clasped it, pulling her arms around his waist. Ignoring her sharp intake of breath, he settled his own hands on her hips before bringing his forehead to rest on hers. He was struggling to control his breathing now, the intensity of the moment getting to him. Looking down at Calleigh, he saw her eyes were still closed. He moved his head back and gently lifted her chin up with his finger.

"Cal?" He waited for her to open her eyes.

She stared back at him for a moment as her brain struggled to come to terms with what was happening: Eric was holding her and she was holding him back. _'She wanted this.' _Calleigh watched as Eric's eyes flickered to her mouth, letting her know his intention. Alarm bells screamed in her head but she ignored them until a single word popped into her head: _'Glass.'_

"Ryan," she breathed.

Eric's eyes snapped back to hers.

"What?" His mind was racing, '_What did Ryan have to do with this?'_ "What's he done now?" he growled.

"Ryan saw us in the break room this morning." She pulled away from him, tearing his heart in the process.

"So?" he asked desperately, his hands rising to rest on the back of his head.

"Eric, can we not – "

"Calleigh," his voice was sharp, cutting her off.

She looked down, missing his touch badly. Taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes to his. "We'll talk later okay?"

He knew it wasn't a question but before he had time to argue his cell shrilled, piercing through the moment, or what was left of it anyway. He let it ring a few times before he finally broke eye contact and answered it.

"Delko?" He watched as Calleigh moved to the target, studying it.

"Eric. Hey I've located Harrison. He's in interrogation now," Tripp's voice informed him.

"Alright, thank you Frank I'm on my way." Eric took a few seconds to calm himself before heading for the door. Her voice stopped him as he moved through it.

"Hey Eric?" She waited for him to pause, "You clipped my shot."

He glanced at the target and saw his bullet resting snugly just above hers, albeit a little skew.

"Didn't hit the bulls-eye though," he muttered as he left the room.

* * *

Bet you all kinda hate me right now huh?

I promise you there is a reason for these 'almosts' and if you stick with it, then hopefully you'll see why :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Horatio was deep in conversation with Ryan as Eric made his way to interrogation.

"Eric…anything turn up on the vic's background check?" Horatio asked.

Eric paused. "Nothing. Jessica came from a middle class family. Father's a doctor, mother's a charity worker. No criminal records. Tripp's located Harrison though, I'm just about to question him."

"Okay …thank you Eric. Keep me posted. Mr. Wolfe can you take a team back to the crime scene?"

"Sure what are we looking for H?"

"We," Horatio shifted his weight, "we need to find that gun."

The two men watched as their lieutenant walked away. Ryan grinned at Delko, wondering if the music had kicked in yet. He winced slightly however when he saw the glare that was shot back at him.

"Uh Eric, I'm sorry I took your cubano earlier but – "

"Shut up Ryan!" Eric called as he continued on to interrogation. He knew he had no reason to be angry with his colleague. Eric realised that Calleigh had used Ryan as an excuse to shut him out, _again, _but he needed to be angry at something right now and being angry at Calleigh wasn't going to help him: he didn't want to think about her.

He met Tripp in the hallway, just outside the room where Mr. Harrison was seated. Eric's gaze studied the man. He was around thirty-four, but his handsome features looked haunted by exhausted eyes and a dark five o'clock shadow. He could tell the guy had been crying.

"Informed him of Mrs. Galloway's death about eight minutes ago." Tripp told him as the two men entered the room.

"Mr. Harrison, I'm CSI Delko. I believe you've already met Detective Tripp?"

Harrison nodded his response.

"I need to ask you a few questions about Mrs. Galloway."

Once again the man nodded.

"How close were you to her?"

Harrison sighed and brought his hands to rest on the table in front of him. Slowly he met Eric's eyes. "Jessica and I were having an affair," he answered.

'_So far so good,'_ Eric thought. _'He wasn't lying.' _Eric moved a file in front of him and pushed it towards the suspect. He motioned for Harrison to open it, watching as he studied the photograph of the fingerprints and the piece of paper that AFIS confirmed were his.

"We found your prints at the scene. You were there this morning weren't you?" Eric pushed gently. He didn't think this man was their killer.

Harrison nodded. "I uh, I wanted to surprise her with breakfast. I saw that Brian's car wasn't there and assumed he was out. Jessica had given me a key to the patio doors round the back so I slipped in. She was curled up on the sofa when I walked in and I could tell she'd been crying." Harrison paused as he brought his right hand up to his head, stifling a sob.

"What happened next?" Tripp enquired.

Taking a shaky breath, Harrison continued. "I sat down next to her and tried to wake her. We, um, we got into a fight. She told me it was over, that Brian knew everything and had stormed out on her last night. Apparently it was okay for him to sleep with that tart Johnson but when his wife strayed it wasn't allowed," he added bitterly.

"Mr. Galloway was having an affair with Miss. Johnson?" Eric clarified.

"Yeah, check the phone records and the CCTV."

"Mr. Harrison there wasn't any CCTV at the house." Tripp frowned.

"Galloway had secret camera's installed once he suspected me and Jessica. That's how he found out. She told me this morning."

"Tripp?" Eric asked.

"I'm on it." The Detective replied as he left the room.

"What time did you enter the house Mr. Harrison?"

He watched as the man's brow furrowed. "The sun hadn't risen yet. Must have been before 6?"

Eric nodded, deep in thought. _'That would have given him time to kill Jessica and get out of there.'_ He glanced back at the man across from him and could almost feel his sadness. _'This man had loved her.'_

"That's a bit early to be making someone breakfast?"

"We never had a lot of time, she always panicked that Brian would catch us. I'm an early riser, saw an opportunity and took it."

"Did you get into a physical fight with Mrs. Galloway?"

He watched as Harrison winced. "She was screaming at me, her arms hitting out, saying she didn't love me…" He paused looking down, "I grabbed her wrists to try and calm her but she snatched them free, I – I think I hurt her."

'_So that would explain the bruising.' _Eric realised.

"Did you shoot her?"

"Christ no! I loved her! Once I realised what I done I got out of there, her eyes looked so hurt I – I couldn't bare to look," Harrison's voice was desperate now.

"Okay Mr. Harrison I'm going to be honest with you, this doesn't look good. You've just admitted to being at the crime scene, near the time of the murder and you've got personal ties to the victim. Is there anything you can think of that might help you?"

The man shook his head and he sighed. "If you can find that CCTV, you'll see me walk out of there with Jessica still alive. Look I loved Jessica O.K? I didn't kill her."

Eric studied him, saw the anguish in his face; could hear it in his voice. "I believe you."

Harrison's eyes snapped up to Eric's, a faint ray of hope in them.

"But I need you to stay here until we find that tape." Harrison nodded as Eric rose and left the room.

"Caine?" Horatio's voice answered.

"Hey H, I'm gonna pay a visit to Miss. Johnson. Turns out she was having an affair with Mr. Galloway after all. Meet me by your hummer?"

"Eric...I'll see you there."

**/EC/**

Ryan was standing in the middle of the lounge while Natalia was examining the bookshelves, nodding in appreciation at the volumes. They had police officers spread throughout the house hunting for Calleigh's gun. Sighing, he took out his phone.

Calleigh had just finished testing Galloway's clothes for GSR and to her frustration he'd been right: there wasn't any. She brought her hand up to her head and pushed her hair back, only moving when her cell buzzed into life.

"Duquesne?" she drawled.

"Calleigh hey, I –"

"Ryan _please_ tell me this is good news?"

"Uh, no. No I'm sorry Cal we can't find it anywhere. At least not for the moment."

There was a pause. _'Please don't kill me?' _Ryan thought.

"Alright. Thanks for looking." Her disappointment made him grimace. "Did you guys find anything else?" she continued hopefully.

He looked around the room for a moment and rubbed his eyes before admitting defeat. "No. Nothing."

"Galloway said he cut his hand on the door this morning, did you find any trace?"

"Was I not clear when I said nothing?" Ryan snapped.

"Ryan, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too. I didn't mean to snap it's just – "

"Tough case I get it. _Believe_ me I do, but you not finding any blood is actually a good thing; means he was lying."

"Or he just wiped it off?"

There was another pause and Ryan wasn't sure she'd heard him.

"Calleigh?"

Back at the lab, Calleigh was looking over the photographs of the crime scene and one in particular had caught her eye. _'He'd definitely have had the time,' _she thought.

"What room is the fireplace in?"

"Huh? Uh, the dining room why?"

"If Galloway was our shooter then he would have had a couple of hours to wash, burn his clothes and change." Calleigh stated.

"You want me to check if I can find any fibers?" Ryan smiled, getting her point. "Hold on, I'm just entering the room now."

She waited, listening to Ryan and Natalia's muffled voices as they searched the ashes.

"Calleigh?"

"Yeah?"

"Bingo, we got some fibers; Natalia's going to bring them back to the lab. I wanna stay here and hunt around some more."

"Thanks Ryan."

He could hear the smile in her voice as she hung up.

"I'll catch you later then," Natalia told him as she slipped the evidence into her kit. As she turned to go, Ryan put a hand gently on her arm.

"You know I am sorry for the fire and the coffee – "

"Yes Ryan I know," she smiled at him. "And yes you are forgiven."

His face broke into a grin. "So I'm allowed to bring you coffee again?'

"Ryan, don't push it." Natalia eyed him seriously, but didn't lose the smile.

He nodded and dropped his arm, happy that they were okay. He didn't know how Eric put up with small moments like this. He'd _liked_ Natalia for a year; Eric had been _in love_ with Calleigh since Ryan had first joined the team, _probably before that even_. After Natalia left, Ryan turned back to the room; he had work to do.

* * *

You know the drill; next two chapters up tomorrow.

Reviews very much appreciated :D


	10. Chapter 10

Next two Chapters up, enjoy :D

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

Two doors to the right, Horatio and Eric were speaking with a Miss. Johnson. She was a tall blonde with a pretty face. Her eyes were brown, flickering curiously and Eric couldn't help but notice that her top left nothing to the imagination.

"Could you please tell us the status of your relationship with Mr. Galloway?" he heard his boss ask.

"Brian? We're close." she replied.

"You were having an affair with him weren't you Miss. Johnson?" Eric pushed.

Her eyes focused on his for a moment, a smug glint forming in them.

"It was casual, nothing more."

"So you weren't jealous of Jessica Galloway?"

The woman laughed. "Oh honey, as much as I _enjoy_ Brian's company I wouldn't want to be married to him! He's…just a bit of fun." She noticed the looks of disgust forming on the two CSI's faces, "Hey, I'm sure he'd say the same about me. His marriage to Jessica was merely a public façade; helped create a good impression. She didn't do badly out of it mind, I think part of him does, _did,_" she corrected herself, "love her."

"Alright, thank you Miss. Johnson." They returned her nod as she closed the door before Eric turned to Horatio.

"What do you think H?"

"I think – " His boss fiddled with his sunglasses for a moment before looking up at the sky; a pink glow was beginning to form. "I think she didn't do it Eric."

"Yeah, doesn't seem to care about Brian or Jessica."

The sound of a car to their left made them look over. They walked towards Tripp who had just stepped out of the vehicle.

"Frank?" Horatio asked.

"I've got a warrant for that CCTV Harrison told us about."

"Where is Mr. Galloway?" Eric enquired.

"At work. Seemed a little pissed about giving up the tape but he told me where it was."

"Eric…go with Frank please and take the tape back to Cooper. See if the hotel's CCTV caught Galloway's arrival and departure also; they should have sent it over by now."

"Sure H, what are you going to do?"

"I..." He paused to put on his glasses. "I am going to check in with Mr. Wolfe." And with that he strolled away leaving Eric to chuckle softly as the guitars kicked in.

**/EC/**

Natalia found Calleigh in ballistics, re-testing the Colt 45. for what must have been the hundredth time. Once again she looked at her right hand and once again she saw nothing.

"Hey Calleigh," Natalia's voice lifted her eyes away from her hand.

"Hey! Did you get the results back off the fibers?" she asked hopefully.

Natalia handed her a file and waited whilst her friend studied it for a moment.

"We only found a couple but from what I can tell they used to belong to a shirt and judging by the thread count an expensive one at that."

Calleigh nodded, still reading the file. Her face fell however when she found what she was looking for; she'd known it had been a long shot but she couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"No GSR," she stated more than anything.

Natalia shook her head. "No, whatever may or may not have been on this shirt was burnt up and there was too little left to test."

Calleigh sighed, already knowing this but still needing to hear it.

"Let's hope Ryan turns up with that gun." Calleigh smiled, needing to stay hopeful.

"Yeah. I'm gonna head back to the house and re-join the search. We've only got a couple of daylight hours left," she noted as she gazed past Calleigh and out the window at the lazy orange sky.

Calleigh followed her gaze and tensed slightly. She couldn't watch this, not now. The sunset reminded her too much of Eric and Calleigh didn't trust herself to go there, couldn't go there; _wanted to go there._ With an effort she pulled her eyes away, back to Natalia.

"Okay I'll walk you to the elevator, I need some coffee."

**/EC/**

Eric and Tripp stepped out just as the two women approached it. Eric's eyes found Calleigh's uncomfortably and they stared at each other for a moment, both trying to read the other. She could tell Eric was frustrated, but she could also see his hurt and she looked down quickly not wanting to see anymore, _not wanting to_ _feel anymore._

"Hey. You guys got anything good?" she asked, looking only at Frank as Natalia moved behind them into the elevator.

Tripp nodded and pointed to a bag in Eric's hands. "We got CCTV," he smiled.

"We love CCTV," Calleigh forced a smile back. Eric was still looking at her and she allowed herself to meet his eyes once again, shivering a little as he briefly moved his eyes away, focusing on a point just behind her and outside the window; the sunset. As if he _felt_ her shiver, he settled his gaze back onto her.

Frank watched their exchange carefully. He could tell there was something going on; the tension was radiating in tsunamis. Suddenly his cell went and he took the call gladly, nodding politely to them both as he walked away.

They hadn't seen the nod however; both were still watching each other. Eric looked down sadly and she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She knew she couldn't keep ignoring this, _thing_, between them but she had absolutely no idea what to say to make it better._ 'That's not true,'_ she thought. She did know, but it went against all her defensive reflexes.

"Why are you so scared Cal?" Eric's voice was hoarse. He was looking at her again, his dark eyes pleading with her green ones.

It was breaking her heart them being like this. She knew what he wanted from her and most of her wanted to give it to him but Sensible Calleigh stopped her. Stetler would come down on them like a ton of bricks._ 'If it had been me, I'd have transferred to the night shift,'_ she remembered Eric's words, but even that wasn't any good; they'd never see each other if he worked nights and she worked days. Suddenly she became aware of where they were: in the main hallway of the lab surrounded by lots of glass.

"You best get that to Cooper," She eyed the bag in his hand. "I'll go grab some coffee and meet you there. You want any?"

He ignored her, turned his back and headed for the Tech room. Calleigh sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear, not sure whether to be relieved or angry. Ignoring her many internal debates she headed for the break room.

**/EC/**

She walked in to the Tech lab to find Cooper and Eric watching the hotel's security tapes.

"Anything?" she asked, pulling up a chair next to Cooper - placing him between herself and Eric - and set her mug down.

"Well we already know Galloway was at 'The Mandarin Oriental' last night and the tape confirms this. But, watch this." Cooper pressed the play button.

Calleigh watched as Galloway walked out of the hotel and met the awaiting valet with his car. She glanced at the time in the corner of the screen. 5.40 AM.

"How long is the drive from the hotel to his house?" Eric asked for her.

Cooper fiddled with his keyboard, bringing a map of downtown Miami up on the screen. A few more taps told them approximately 15 minutes.

"So Galloway would have arrived at around – "

"5.55" Eric finished her sentence. "He would have seen Harrison leave."

"Let's see."

Calleigh handed Cooper the CCTV of the Galloway's house. He popped it in the machine and fiddled with the speed until they found what they were looking for. Calleigh grabbed a pen.

"Harrison enters the house at…5.45 AM," she noted. They watched a little while longer until Harrison appeared again. At the same time, the screen on their right showed Galloway's car pull up. Harrison hadn't seen it, merely striding across the street back to his house. Turning their attention back to the left screen they could see Jessica in front of the patio doors, alive. She moved back into the house however, out of the camera's sight and they watched on the right as Galloway got out of his car and entered the house. Cooper hit fast-forward but they saw nothing until Tripp arrived, shortly followed by the rest of the team.

"Could you pause there?" Calleigh asked and Cooper obliged.

"So Harrison left at 5.57AM, just as Galloway pulled up."

"Galloway was the last person to see her alive," Eric confirmed. He glanced over at Calleigh who was frowning. It turned to a sigh as she stood up.

"Thank's Dan." She forced a smile and left the room.

Eric chased after her, following her into the examination lab. The photographs of the crime scene were still scattered across the table. He watched her sit down and rest her head on her hands. Silently, he grabbed a stool and pulled it up next to her.

"We still need the murder weapon don't we?" he asked.

She laughed bitterly. "It's ridiculous! We have Galloway in the house when his wife was killed. We have scorched shirt fibers implying he burnt his clothes to destroy any trace of GSR. He had enough time to shower and scrub to remove any remaining GSR and we can't use any of that because it won't hold up in court! We don't have the link between him and our dead victim. Any defence lawyer could argue that! All we can do is imply murder, it's not enough that we have a dead wife and an obviously guilty husband!" Her voice grew angrier as her rant went on, her southern accent suddenly becoming more noticeable. He took her left hand in his right, her mind too busy focusing on the case to stop him.

"Ridiculous," she muttered again.

"Well, we have enough to scare him. Maybe force a confession?" he soothed.

Calleigh sighed. "He's too smart for that Eric, he's a DA. He knows we don't have the murder weapon."

Galloway had really pissed her off: Calleigh was usually so calm and collected while he was the one with the temper, _'not that she didn't have one.'_ He remembered her exchanges with Stetler, particularly the one after the investigation into Horatio. _'Never mess with Calleigh Duquesne,' _H had rightly told him. Eric smiled and unconsciously traced the gap between Calleigh's left thumb and her index finger. He wasn't angry with her anymore, was just happy to be here with her.

Calleigh was watching his hand curiously. _'It was on his – A Colt. 45. snaps to the – How could she have been so stupid!?' _Suddenly her eyes snapped to his, a light forming in them as a theory formed and she pulled away from him, practically running for the door.


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

Eric followed her to ballistics were she was about to fire the Colt 45. _again_, only this time she held it in her left hand.

"Uh, Cal?"

"He's left handed Eric! A Colt 45.'s bolt snaps to the left as the gun recoils! When held in the right hand, the bolt moves away so not to damage it. For an inexperienced user, hold it in the left hand and –" She moved to demonstrate.

"Whoa hold on!" Eric grabbed the gun out of her hand. "I'm not going to let you hurt yourself trying to nail this guy." Gently he nudged her out of the way.

"Eric!" She snatched it back. "I can take care of myself, besides you let me try before!"

"Only because I arrived _after_ you'd already tried!" His mouth broke into a grin as hers settled on a pout.

"You arrived during actually."

"I'm not gonna let you do this Cal. I've felt that recoil."

She sighed. "Well what do you suggest?"

Taking the gun out of her hand once more he moved for the dummies they used to rein act crime scenes. He placed the gun on the table as he reached for the left hand of a very unfortunate one. With a grunt, several actually, he snapped the hand off, grabbed some tape and manipulated it so the gun was resting as it would be if someone were aiming it. He then walked back over to Calleigh and handed his contraption to her, smirking as he did so.

She laughed back at him. "I'm impressed."

"Uh huh, give it a try."

She grabbed a clamp from a cupboard to right and passed the gun back to Eric temporarily while she set it up and then motioned for him to place it in the vice. Once she was satisfied that the shot was lined up she slipped her finger over where the dummy's finger rested above the trigger. She grinned back at Eric before she pushed it, loving the reverberating **snap** of the bolt as it made contact with the dummy's 'skin'.

**/EC/**

Eric photographed as Calleigh's fingers carefully pulled at the tape strapping the hand to the gun. His mind wandered as he remembered what it felt like to have those fingers on him and he felt his body shiver slightly at the memory. She had now managed to separate the gun from the hand and was placing the gun down on the table. Eric's eyes snaked down her body before coming back to rest on her face, his mouth playing with a smile as he watch her anticipation grow. Calleigh moved back to the hand and examined where the bolt had hit it. She smiled one of _those_ smiles and Eric could have sworn she actually jumped with excitement.

"Good news?" he asked, not really needing to as he placed the camera down.

"Look!" Her grin grew bigger, if that were even possible.

Eric moved over to where she was standing and gently took the unfortunate dummy's hand into his own. Slowly, he turned it over and winced at the impact of the recoil. It amazed him how the prosthetics department could make the dummies so real. Every shot, hit or crack reflected an accurate human injury; the dummies were filled with red paint while the stretchy material that covered the material was made to behave exactly as skin would. Between the thumb and the index finger, Eric could see a dark shadow; the impact of the bolt had crushed the material, mimicking a bruise. In the middle of it oozed red paint.

Eric grabbed the camera once more, pausing only to look at Calleigh who was literally glowing.

"If we can match this injury to Galloway's, we don't need that murder weapon. It's a significant mark." Calleigh rushed, her southern accent stronger in her excitement.

Eric laughed. "I'll let you call it in."

Calleigh didn't need to be told twice, she grabbed her cell and pushed a button.

"Caine?"

"Hey Handsome. Meet me by your hummer? I think Eric and I just got Galloway."

"Calleigh…I'm on my way."

She rolled her eyes and let out a chuckle as she snapped the phone shut.

"All Right Now?" Eric grinned.

"You got it." He was treated to another one of _those_ smiles as she grabbed the camera from him and left the room, humming quietly as she went.

Eric leant against the wall, his head touching it lightly, and smiled._ 'God he loved her.'_

**/EC/**

Horatio stepped out of his hummer and headed for Mr. Galloway who was having a somewhat heated conversation with Ryan.

"CSI Wolfe. You have no reason to be here, you have _nothing_."

Ryan was about to reach boiling point. He brought his hands to his head and took a step back, struggling to control himself.

"Mr. Galloway, you're left handed aren't you?" Horatio enquired.

The DA forced himself to switch his gaze to the rapidly approaching lieutenant. He sighed irritably and ran his left hand across his stubble, his thumb leaving a gap between his index finger and displaying an ugly bruise that circled around an angry cut. _'A significant mark,'_ Calleigh noted.

"How is that relevant?"

"Just answer the question Mr. Galloway," she pushed.

He sighed a second time. "Yes Ms. Duquesne I am indeed left handed. Why, are you?"

She allowed herself to laugh.

"No, I'm right handed which is actually why you managed to fool me for so long. You see the gun that you used, the one we checked was registered to you, is a Colt 45. It's an interesting gun."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, it has a heavy slide and bolt that slams back and forth with each shot. The bolt shifts to the left slightly before it settles back into place. You're left handed; it would have _pinched_ you," she echoed the word he had used in his previous explanation.

He watched as she turned the camera round so that he was looking at a photograph of a rather nasty gun recoil wound, one that looked spookily like his own. _'Shit.'_

"Guess you don't need that murder weapon anymore huh?" he stated simply, looking at Calleigh.

"No, Mr. Galloway we don't. That mark," Horatio nodded to where Galloway was rubbing his hand. "Proves that you shot and killed your wife."

"I saw that bastard Harrison leave this morning. He'd been there all night! I couldn't let her embarrass me like that!" his anger rose suddenly.

"So you killed her? Mr. Galloway, he was in there barely fifteen minutes. Your wife ended it, said she didn't love him," Calleigh cut in coldly. She glanced over to Ryan who had moved to the DA's car, he was inspecting the glove compartment.

"Frank, take him away," she heard Horatio's voice as she continued to watch Ryan.

A grin erupted on her face and she stifled a squeal, '_a squeal?'_ as he held up a Colt 45. Automatic. _'Even better,' _Calleigh beamed.

"Bet you'll find his blood on it," He grinned back at her as she took it from him and headed for the hummer, looking up at the sky as the sun said a final goodbye to the day, the golden rays lingering for just a second before the moon's silvery light replaced them. _'God, she did love the sunset.'_

* * *

As always, next two chapters up tomorrow, or seeing how there are only three left, I might be nice and upload all of them :D

Perhaps I owe you that for all the 'amosts.'

Reviews very much appreciated :D


	12. Chapter 12

Alright, you guys convinced me; I've uploaded all three chapters.

Guess this means the story is complete!

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

* * *

Valera watched Calleigh as they waited for CODIS. The blonde had indeed found some blood on the gun's bolt, once she had confirmed it had been fired recently of course. They already had Galloway but Calleigh needed this for her peace of mind. It also didn't hurt that this would help secure their case.

"Valera?"

"What?"

"Would you stop staring at me please, it's kind of uncomfortable."

"Sorry," Valera sighed wanting desperately to ask the question.

"Valera?"

"Yeah?"

"You're still staring," Calleigh laughed.

Valera smiled and looked at the computer, which was still dancing. Through the glass, she saw a certain someone walk past the room, his eyes locking on Calleigh, eyes filled with longing and, _love?_ Valera wondered.

Calleigh noticed her friend's puzzlement and followed her gaze through the window: _Eric_. Her eyes locked with his for a moment and she allowed herself to smile at him before he disappeared into the break room. Calleigh's eyes lingered there a little too long and Valera had noticed. She jumped as CODIS erupted a beep, her eyes flickering to Valera's, before resting on the arrogant eyes of DA Galloway that stared back at her from the computer screen.

"It's a match," The DNA specialist confirmed.

Calleigh smiled, her eyes unconsciously flickering to the break room. Quickly, she pulled herself together.

"Thank you Valera. Can you add this to the case file?"

"Sure thing." A smug smile appeared on her face now as Calleigh's eyes wandered_ again. _Valera watched as the blonde CSI rose and headed for the door.

"Hey Calleigh?" she stopped her.

"Hmm?"

"Tell Eric I said hi."

Calleigh's head whipped round. _'How should she answer that?'_ She took a deep breath and began,

"Valera, Eric and I aren't – "

She stopped as Valera drew her arms across her chest, challenging Calleigh to deny it. Her eyes looked away, at the computer, the centrifuge, the break room, _'Christ! Why there?!' _down to her hands, anywhere but Valera.

"Calleigh?" Valera pushed.

"Yeah?" She sighed.

"Go and get him," Valera urged, giving her an encouraging smile.

Calleigh shifted her weight slightly, considering the statement. She brought a hand to head, a thousand – _no, a million_ - thoughts coursing through her brain until suddenly they stopped on three little words. Calleigh wasn't scared anymore. She allowed herself to smile back at Valera, but with eyes that threatened serious danger if she continued to push it.

"Won't say anything more, promise." She held her hands up.

Once Calleigh was satisfied she gave a polite nod and left the room, her eyes fixed on one thing and one thing only; the break room. She was going to _tell _Eric. A smile broke out on her face as she realised how free she felt at the realisation and with a deep breath, she opened the break room door.

**/EC/**

Her senses filled with the smell of Eric's cubano as she stepped into the room. He was stood by the coffee maker with his back to her, only the slight tensing of his shoulders giving away the fact that he knew she was behind him. With his back still turned, he moved his hands so they were planted on either side of the counter; she was going to have to come to him, he was tired of chasing.

As if she sensed this, she moved towards him before coming to lean against the counter next to him. Silently, she lifted herself up so that she was perched on it, her legs dangling slightly as she made herself comfortable. Eric watched, his eyes questioning her.

"Eric – " Calleigh began. She paused. The thought of telling him was proving far easier than the actual telling.

"I'm sorry," she offered lamely.

"What for?" he croaked. She was sitting so close to him now and he tensed his arms as he struggled to keep his hands in place.

"For shutting you out. For not trusting you with my feelings when you've been nothing but open about yours." She closed her eyes.

Eric's eyes snapped up as she closed them. He froze. The openness of her statement shocked him and he realised just how vulnerable she was in that moment. He moved his right hand so that it rested on her left thigh.

"Cal?" he whispered.

She opened her eyes at his touch and found herself staring at his own.

"What uh, what are you saying?" he needed to hear her say it, needed her to tell him.

Calleigh looked away for a moment and gazed at a spot just behind his head, frowning slightly.

Worried he was losing her, Eric shifted his body so that he was stood in front her, both hands now resting on her thighs, caressing gently. She looked down at him, smiling, before she placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him backwards. She hopped off the counter and pulled him to the furthest corner of the break room, shooting daggers over her shoulder in the process. Eric looked behind him to see Valera watching them, a huge grin on her face. He allowed himself to laugh, still a little confused as her face disappeared from view.

He turned his attention back to Calleigh, whose eyes were watching him intently. Eric reached out to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, his hand brushing her cheek as he did so. She smiled at the touch, eyes never leaving his. Slowly she took his hands in hers and pulled them around her waist, before settling her own on his chest.

"Cal?" he prompted, gently rubbing her back.

Eyes still locked with his, she took a deep breath.

"I'm saying that I love you Eric," she whispered, terrified at what she'd just allowed herself to say. Unconsciously she began to pull back: her defensive reflex kicking into gear, but Eric was ready for her and tightened his grip, pulling her closer. She was holding her breath while he was doing more than enough breathing for the both of them. Eric held her there for a moment, not daring to move in case she broke, in case _he_ did. He could feel her heart pounding against his chest and he was pretty sure his own was about to explode. When he'd composed himself he gently buried his face in her hair, his lips coming to rest above her ear.

"I love you too," he breathed.

He felt her relax and he allowed her to move back, just a little, so she could look at him. She smiled, the last of her internal struggle evaporating. Gently he leant down, his eyes never leaving hers as she reached up to meet him. Their lips met in a longing kiss, both needing it, wanting it. His hands moved up her back to her hair while hers moved down to the hem of his shirt, tugging at it in an effort to bring him closer. She moaned as he nibbled her lip, asking for access and she obliged. He deepened the kiss, his hands moving down her back again to her hips, pulling her further to him.

A loud **smack** made Calleigh tear her lips from his, but not from his embrace. He whimpered slightly at the removal of her mouth but a cry of pain snapped him out of it. They looked at each other, both deducing if the cry had come from either one of them before she rolled her eyes and broke into a smile: together they whispered,

"Ryan."

He kissed her nose and rested his forehead on hers.

"Eric?" she pouted.

"Damage control right?" he asked, sighing as she led him out of the room, laughing as she stopped to fix her hair in the reflection of the glass.

* * *

I had to fit Ryan in there somewhere ;)


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

It didn't take them long to find the commotion. In the hallway, just in front of the elevator lay Ryan; his body squirming slightly as blood oozed from his nose, leaving a deep red trail down his chin and onto his collar. Natalia was leant over him, dabbing gently with a tissue, a look horror on her face. _'Wow,'_ thought Eric. _'She actually hit him.'_ He heard Calleigh gasp as she rushed to Ryan's side.

"God Ryan! What happened?" she asked with concern.

"Natalia hit me," Ryan answered, shock evident in his voice.

Calleigh looked over to Natalia and watched as she brought a hand to her head, eyes flashing wildly.

"I didn't mean to," she explained. "You startled me Ryan!"

"Yeah, you've got a pretty mean right hook!" his tone slightly cutting; his pride clearly hurt.

He glanced around, groaning slightly at the little crowd that had gathered to watch him. Ryan caught Cooper's eye and shot daggers at him when he saw the other man wink. Just behind Dan, through the glass, he could see Valera stifling a laugh. With a sigh, he turned his gaze to Eric, glaring at the group of officers and techs behind him. Delko was stood a few feet away with his arms folded and Ryan was surprised to see a look of concern in his eyes, his hair a little ruffled.

"Is it broken?" Eric asked, nodding to Ryan's bloodied nose.

Natalia gave a little whimper of guilt and Ryan flicked his eyes to her. He hated seeing her so upset, although he couldn't help but smile that she cared.

"I'm not sure," he heard Calleigh answer, as she gingerly brought her hand to his nose.

"Ryan can you sit up a bit so I can get a better look?" she asked gently.

Ryan watched her curiously, studying her for a moment. _'Something was different.'_ He turned his gaze to Eric once more and saw the same sparkle in his brown eyes that Calleigh had in her green ones. With an effort he pushed himself up so his head was level with hers. As she examined him, he smelt Eric's aftershave on her, could see the slight flush of colour on her face.

"You totally kissed Eric, didn't you?" he whispered, low enough so that only she could hear.

Before Calleigh could stop herself, she tensed a little, emitting a small squeal of pain from Ryan.

"Sorry!" she winced at his cry.

But her eyes spoke volumes and despite the now even more severe throbbing he was experiencing in his nose, Ryan smiled. It turned to a grimace however as the pain became too much. Once it had subsided a little, he became aware of a hand in his: Natalia's. He said nothing for a moment, just enjoying her touch and loving how it fit his perfectly. His heart tensed at the anguish on her face.

"I guess we're even?" he asked, with playful eyes.

She gave a soft laugh, closed her eyes and opened them again, shaking her head gently. Eric heard himself chuckle a little.

"Ryan, you need this looked at. We should get you to a hospital," Calleigh's voice soothed.

He nodded, "But I need to go home first, the cable guys coming to fix my TiVo. What? I've been waiting days for him to come out!" Ryan defended, seeing Calleigh's less-than-impressed expression.

"I'll take him," Natalia offered. It was the least she could do; she could tell he wasn't angry with her but she still felt so unbearably guilty. She smiled slightly as she realised how Ryan must have felt when their situations had been reversed; _'At least with her there had been no blood,' _Natalia's brain reminded her.

Calleigh glanced at Eric, couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at her lips as their eyes met, and motioned for him to help them pull Ryan to his feet. Together the three of them helped Ryan up, producing another yelp of pain. Calleigh and Eric slowly helped Natalia get Ryan into the elevator and then stepped back, both fighting the urge to laugh at their poor, hopeless colleague's face, which broke out in horror at the sight of his reflection in the glass.

"Forget home; I need ER," they heard him say.

**/EC/**

"He's totally milking it," Cooper's voice said, as soon as the doors were closed.

"Dan!" Calleigh scolded, the smile still playing around her mouth.

"Oh please! That's the closest he's ever been to Natalia," Dan grinned and raised his eyebrows before he headed back to his station.

Calleigh's gaze connected with a certain DNA specialist through the glass. Valera's questioning eyes were furiously darting from Calleigh to Eric, and then back to Calleigh again. She smiled, shook her head and then turned back to Eric.

He looked back at her, a grin spreading across his face.

"So uh, home sounds good?" he dared.

She cocked her head to the side for a moment, eyes sparkling playfully.

"It does," she finally agreed and she began to walk.

Puzzled, he fell into step beside her. They moved in a comfortable silence as they approached the locker room. Eric opened the door for her, placing a hand on the small of her back as she moved through it; he chuckled when she flashed him a smile of her appreciation.

Calleigh busied herself with her locker, grabbing what she needed, depositing what she didn't and taking her cue; he did the same with his.

"Pizza and a DVD, my place?" he heard her ask.

He shut his locker and turned to face her, a grin spreading across his mouth.

"What film is it?"

Smiling, she took a step towards him.

"Does it really matter?" she whispered, eyes flirting with his.

Eric laughed and ran a hand through his hair, loving that she watched him do this.

"I guess not," he replied, closing the distance between them. "Do I at least get to choose the pizza?" he pouted.

"Nuh-Uh," she told him. _'God she loved that pout.'_

"Well, what _do_ I get then?" He raised his eyebrows.

Calleigh flashed him one of _those_ smiles and gently, but firmly, placed her hands on his chest. She reached up to his mouth, her lips hovering above his.

Eric had absolutely no idea how he was still standing, her palms were hot against his shirt and his throat went dry. He had to close his eyes at the intensity, felt her smile as he did so.

"Eric…" He shivered as she whispered his name.

"You get _me_," she breathed against his lips; loving the power she had over him.

Gently, she kissed the corner of his mouth before she stepped back and headed out of the door, pausing only to say,

"7.30…don't be late."

He laughed and felt himself lean back against his locker before his legs gave way. _'She was such a tease!' _he smiled,_ 'But he loved her."_ Grabbing his bag, Eric left the room a _very_ happy man.


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

* * *

Eric was lying across her sofa; head propped up against the arm, Calleigh's back pressed into his chest, her legs entwined with his, arms wrapped in his. They were watching the 'Bourne Ultimatum,' or at least she was; he couldn't keep his eyes off _her_.

Gently, he removed one of his hands from her waist and began to stroke her hair, loving how soft it felt between his fingers. She wriggled against him a little and gave a satisfied sigh once she found a position she liked.

"You comfy Cal?" he laughed.

"Uh huh," she replied.

Eric smiled and closed his eyes, wanting to savour this moment forever. Slowly, he opened them again and tried to concentrate on the film. The TV showed a railway station, or at least what he thought was one anyway. Matt Damon was surveying the area and talking animatedly with another character on a cell. Eric felt Calleigh smile as the shot changed to a tall, well-toned and handsome assassin aim a sniper rifle through an advertise board.

"Cal?"

"Sshh!" she breathed.

He laughed, pausing a moment before he tried again.

"Why do you love guns so much?"

With an effort she unravelled her legs from his and reached over the side of the sofa to the coffee table. Calleigh picked up the remote and hit the pause button. He watched as she turned back to him, bringing her knees either side of his waist so that she was straddling him. Eric lifted his own knees, partly because he needed to stretch them, but also so she could lean back. Her fingers clasped with his and she gave a gentle sigh.

"Why do you love the water so much?" she answered his question with one of her own.

He thought about this for a moment, pulling his hands from hers to move them to her waist where his thumbs began to trace small circles over her abdomen.

"It's what the water lets you do, the way it makes you feel," he began. "You can weigh six hundred pounds and _still_ float. When I'm in it I feel relaxed, like I could just float there forever and underwater there's so much…life," he smiled at the last word.

She smiled back at him, drawing patterns across his chest, shifting against his legs.

"Anyway, I believe I asked you a question first?" he pouted.

Calleigh laughed and traced his pout with her fingers.

"Every gun is different, unique. It has a bolt that slides, a screw that turns, an extra click, an echo or a thud. It can be custom made, adapted: made to fit. It fascinates me that something that was created to kill is made with such love and care. You can argue all you want that it's the person that pulls the trigger doing the killing but ultimately, it's the bullet that has the final say. I don't love guns, I respect them." She moved her hand to the scar on the side of his head and traced over it, trying to forget how scared she had been as he lay there, unconscious in that hospital bed.

He reached for her hand and kissed it, smiling up at her as he did so. Slowly he shifted them both so that his back was now resting against the arm, his head now level with Calleigh's. Eric moved his knees back down and snaked his arms around her back, pulling her to him so that their noses almost touched.

She moved her head over her shoulder, looking at the frozen screen, before turning back to him and resting her arms on his shoulders, a playful smile tugging at her mouth.

"And you know, in films, all the _hot_ guys have a gun,"

Eric glanced past her to look at the TV and studied the assassin for a moment. He cocked an eyebrow as he looked back at her, his own smile mimicking hers.

"He's not so hot."

"No?" she whispered.

'No," he confirmed, before his mouth met hers in a lingering kiss.

She whimpered when his mouth left her's, frowned as he looked around the room.

"Eric, what are you doing?"

"Just checking,"

"For what?" she asked as she kissed his neck.

"Oh, that Ryan isn't about to ruin the moment, or that he isn't about to spontaneously combust in your living room, or –"

Calleigh stopped his mouth with another kiss, threading her fingers through his hair while he moved his hands up from her waist. He pulled away again to finish his sentence.

"Or generally that he isn't here."

"Eric," she pressed her forehead to his.

"Yeah?"

"You really need to stop talking,"

He laughed and moved his hands further upwards towards her hair, crashing his lips to hers. She smiled into his mouth as she brought her hands back down to his chest, a finger tracing over his heart as she did so. He nibbled at her lip, requesting access but she refused, instead teasing him with small, broken kisses. Eric groaned and moved his hands down to her waist, playing with the hem of her top. Slowly he began to lift it up and it came off effortlessly. His hands caressed her skin, exploring her body, pausing only to help her lift his off too.

Calleigh traced the lines of his muscles, sighing as she did so. He reached up to her again and brought her into another deep kiss, nibbled at her lip and smiled as this time, she let him in. Seconds, minutes passed and the kiss grew deeper, both exploring each other. He had to pull back when the heat became too much.

Eric rested his forehead against hers, watching the sparkle in the corner of her eyes, his breathing a little erratic. Carefully, he swung his legs round so that they touched the floor, Calleigh still straddling him. He moved his hands under her thighs and stood up, lifting her with him. She moved her mouth to his neck, kissing it and he had to take a moment before he could move.

"Bedroom?" he muttered, although he vaguely remembered where it was from all the times he'd crashed on her couch: Eric was asking for permission.

"Door-on-right," she found the words.

Eric found it and moved them through it, placing her down gently just in front of the bed; he moved his hand down to the zipper on her jeans as he kissed her collarbone. Once they were taken care of, he stepped out of his and they fell backwards onto the bed.

"I've wanted to do this for so long…" Eric whispered as he leant over her, trailing kisses from her head to her stomach.

"I know," she whispered back, before they lost themselves, starting with a slow rhythm, taking their time, until it ended in a booming crescendo...

**/EC/**

He smiled as she snuggled closer, her hair tickling his chest. He locked his hands with hers and closed his eyes.

"Hey Eric?"

"Mmm?"

"You never did tell me."

He opened his eyes and frowned down at her.

"Tell you what?" he asked, kissing the top of her head.

"What your favourite thing about Miami is?"

Eric laughed, "Isn't it obvious? You are Calleigh, _you are. _I love you."

Calleigh wriggled in closer, if that were even possible, and looked at him with one of _those_ smiles.

"Good," she whispered. "Because you're number one on my list too."

He laughed again.

"And I love you."

Eric buried his face in her hair and sighed, knowing that despite all the difficulty he and Calleigh had been through, at how reluctant she'd been to open up to him; it was definitely worth it. With a smile resting on his lips, he closed his eyes again as sleep washed over them.

They stayed like that until the light orange glow began to seep through the window, nudging the moon away. They awoke to the sound of the alarm clock as the rays burst into a brilliant yellow, dancing across the sky before the sun recoiled into a burning circle, signalling the start of a new day and one where they were together.

* * *

**- Fin -**

* * *

So there we have it! All finished.

I hope these three chapters have made up for all the 'almost' moments :D

You might be interested to know that I've actually written the first four chapters of a sequel...

Thanks to all of you who reviewed, I really do appreciate it!


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